This story wraps around 'The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Chapter 2, Friendship's Magic'. Reading that chapter first will help this story make a lot more sense.
The 'Canterlot Recorder' woke up in the morning. Summer was still up against his chest, and he just pulled her close. She sighed in her sleep.
Shysage was already thinking about the day's task. The record of PonyRos' take-over was turning into a royal pain. But Shysage had expected as much.
Shysage talked to Zecora briefly, and this surfaced the Alicorn Amulet. Evidently Star Dusk had inadvertently worn it briefly. This would explain a lot, but he needed more information.
He could not find his copies of Princess Celestia's Commentaries on his 'compy', which troubled Shysage some. Still, his 'compy' had seen a lot of use lately.
Shysage just realized a trip to Princess Twilight's new Castle, to her new Library, was in order first thing, so he could review the first three volumes of the Commentaries as a starting point for his research.
Summer snapped Shysage out of his planning mode.
"I love you Stallion, I hope you know that" Summer said softly, still waking up.
Shysage hugged her tightly.
Summer sighed, then lay still for a few minutes.
Still up against his chest, Summer rolled towards him, which left them facing each other as Shysage hugged her.
"Summer, do you have something on your mind, by any chance?" Shysage asked cautiously.
Summer just hugged Shysage with her upper front leg, then rubbed his nose.
"Hmm... Maybe..." Summer replied playfully.
They rubbed noses a minute, then Summer got up.
"I just did that so you will come eat, then fly with me, Stallion" Summer said softly.
"Let's go!" Shysage replied.
Both walked together to the meadow to the East, since it was close.
Summer and Shysage ate and drank, then took to the air.
Both loved flying together.
Fluttershy joined them soon after they were flying, and just flew with them. Summer and her sister loved each other, and enjoyed being together any time they could.
In fact, while they were flying, Summer asked if she and Fluttershy could spend the day together at Fluttershy's cottage.
"That sounds like more fun than what I have planned" Shysage said, with just a hint of dismay. "That's fine Summer; I know you both enjoy being together."
Summer and Fluttershy headed off to Fluttershy's Cottage right then, and Shysage watched them fly off. He noted his Mare looked beautiful while flying.
Shysage sighed, then flew back to the 'Canterlot Recorder's' home.
Shysage went inside long enough to get his 'shoulder sack' on, just in case he wanted to bring one of Princess Celestia's Commentaries home from Princess' Library for his research.
They were amazing to read anyway, and there were four Commentaries now. Each one covered about a years worth of amazing lessons Princess Twilight and her girls had discovered. Friendship is still Magic.
Shysage also knew his Mare would enjoy reading one if he brought one home. Shysage seemed to recall that the Alicorn Amulet was in one of the first three.
Shysage headed off to Princess' Castle. He was in no hurry. He already knew this account would take a while...
Shysage was maybe 200 feet from the Castle steps. The amazing Castle took in just about all his field of view.
Out of the very edge of his eyes, he thought he saw the brown outline of the hard-wood frame of the Portal. It was such a subtle perception and he almost didn't catch it. Still walking, Shysage thought nothing of it...
...
...
...
...until Princess Twilight's huge, new Castle...
SIMPLY DISAPPEARED...
All of a sudden, there was nothing there. Just a meadow full of grass, blowing softly in the wind...
Shysage stopped in his tracks...
He had never seen this happen before.
THEN he remembered his subtle perception of the Portal frame just moments ago.
Shysage immediately turned around and looked... ...and saw nothing like that.
Shysage turned back towards where the Castle had been, it was still gone...
Shysage slowly walked backwards along the same maybe 30 feet that had taken him past the appearance of the Portal...
He saw nothing...
Princess' amazing Castle was still gone...
Shysage walked quickly back to the 'Canterlot Recorder's' house.
Shysage actually stopped in front of Dawn's shop first, on the way... It looked terrible... It needed paint, and a lot of it.
The 'Canterlot Recorder's' house did not even exist. There was just grass and weeds where it should or would be...
Shysage didn't move... He just thought...
Looking at Dawn's shop, Shysage realized he was backwards in time...
Why? Shysage didn't know...
How long, he also didn't know, but he realized from the appearance of Dawn's shop that it was before Summer's first Chronicles...
Summer...
Shysage wanted her back very badly now...
But if he was backwards in time, she probably didn't even know him very well, if at all.
...and if he messed up, he could very easily change the future... He loved his future... He loved Summer... This brought tears to Shysage's eyes...
He cried a few minutes, then asked true friend for help, then cried a little more.
Then Shysage sighed, the Portal had put him here. He just needed to find out what he needed to do... ...without ruining the future... his future, in the process...
Shysage needed some answers... Princess Twilight...
Well the Castle didn't exist. That must mean he would find Princess Twilight in her 'old' Library in the tree-house.
Shysage headed there slowly.
Shysage was just plain scared...
The walk to the Library wasn't long, and the Library looked just like he remembered... Seeing the tree-house, in one piece again... This was just weird...
Shysage knocked on the door, and heard Spike yell 'Come in".
Shysage walked slowly in the door.
"Hi, can I help you?" Spike asked.
Shysage realized Spike probably didn't know him yet.
"I would like to speak to Princess Twilight, if I could" Shysage said slowly.
Spike just laughed loudly.
"Maybe some day she will be a Princess, but not yet."
Spike laughed a little more. It didn't sound like Spike thought that would ever happen.
Shysage sighed. Of course she wasn't a Princess yet...
"Spike, can I speak to Twilight?" Shysage asked again.
"She's not here, she's in Canterlot at her brother's wedding" Spike began. "I understand it went poorly for Twilight at first, but she was onto that Changeling Princess, and saved the 'real' Princess Cadance in the process.
"Everything is fine now, but I think it will be a few days before they return.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Spike asked.
Shysage noticed a familiar book on the reading table closest to him. It was Volume 1 of Princess Celestia's commentaries.
"Can I take this book?" Shysage asked calmly.
Still, after he asked this, Shysage realized he was thinking about his Canterlot Recorder task (PonyRos' takeover), and this most surely was a secondary concern right now...
Anyway, Spike said "Sure", and helped Shysage slide the book from the table into his shoulder sack.
Shysage thanked Spike, then walked out the door of the Library.
Seeing the inside of the Library again was uncanny...
Well, this whole thing was...
Shysage walked some distance from the Library, then actually checked. His 'Canterot Recorder' Cutie Mark was still there, anyway.
And Spike had mentioned that Twilight was in Canterlot for Shining Armor's wedding to Princess Cadance.
Maybe two years ago... Well two years ago from where he had come from... But why... What was he supposed to do?
Shysage was in town, so he stopped by the Cakes. They said Pinkie Pie was in Canterlot.
Shysage stopped by Rarity's Shop. Sweetie Bell was sure Shysage was a bad stranger, and wouldn't even talk to him. The door slammed closed quickly.
Shysage refused to check at Fluttershy's Cottage.
Shysage walked out to Sweet Apple Acres, and Big Mac said that Applejack was in Canterlot for some big wedding or something.
Shysage walked back to where he thought he saw the Portal, and just sat down.
He didn't know what to do.
He sat there for a while...
Shysage just sighed... The 'Canterlot Recorder's' house was in Cloudsdale. Shysage was just not wild about walking in and seeing himself. This would surely blow every fuse in Equestria...
And he really wanted to avoid Summer and Fluttershy's parents, That might cause problems too.
Still, Shysage realized this was the only thing he knew to do. Maybe his 'scope' would show him something... Shysage just didn't know.
Well, he knew the way to Cloudsdale. Shysage flew slowly. Still, the climb to the 'City on the Clouds' was a lot easier than he remembered. This was probably because he and Summer flew a lot, and so he was in much better shape for this.
Shysage made a mental note that he needed to stop thinking about his Mare. It just made him cry.
And Shysage was still very scared. He did not want to change the future...
Shysage landed at his usual spot on the edge of Cloudsdale, and headed the short distance to his house.
The 'two years ago' Shysage was not there, for now, at least. Still, if he walked in, and saw himself...
Seeing his old house was also very uncanny...
His 'scope' thing was on, focused on Princess... oops, Twilight Sparkle. It looked like she was having lunch with her girls.
Shysage had buttons assigned for Twilight and her other five friends. No button for Summer yet, of course...
Just to see if he would find anything out, Shysage stepped through Twilight's five friends. It was just five different views of the same lunch together.
Shysage pulled up the file structure for the records on the 'scope'... ...and then quickly remembered where he had placed the Princess Celestia's Commentaries' files on his 'in the future' compy...
On this 'compy', it looked like Volume one was complete, but Volume two was still in process. Shysage expected this, the Canterlot Wedding finished out Volume two, and was just now being compiled...
Well, this was true at the 'two years ago' time, right now...
Shysage moved the view back to Twilight, just like he had found it. He doubted it would make any difference though.
Well, there was nothing for him here, except memories, and he had not found anything out about what he needed to do.
Shysage just didn't know what to do... ...still...
Shysage headed out the door, and walked quickly down the broad avenue towards his normal 'taking off' spot.
There was nothing here for him, so he would head back to Ponyville, before he accidentally ran into somepony he shouldn't...
...
...
...
As Shysage walked down that broad avenue...
There was a mare sitting very close to the edge of the clouds, where he normally left for Ponyville...
Sitting next to the edge like that was very dangerous...
...
...
...
As he got closer, Shysage immediately began to cry...
It was Summer... Phantom Alicorn Cutie Mark and all...
...
...
...
Shysage was still maybe 50 feet away, and stopped. Now, he was very scared...
With every bone in his body, he wanted to run up and just hug her...
Shysage knew though that she would probably slap him and run away... It was just too early for that...
...
...
...
Shysage walked slowly up behind her, maybe 8 feet away, and sat down. He didn't want to startle her. And he wasn't very successful at controlling his crying...
"Just go away, and leave me alone..." Summer said.
Shysage clearly noted the dejection in her voice. This was Summer Rain before she had found out things didn't have to be like this... And she was sitting almost on the edge of the clouds...
Shysage was hurting a lot now... But that couldn't even matter...
Still, Shysage felt he had to try to help her... She honestly looked like she was trying to 'fall off' the clouds, maybe to 'end it all'... Her Twin had tried that; she just used alcohol and a car...
Shysage didn't move.
Shysage wanted to talk to her, but didn't want her to easily recognize him later. As much as he was hurting, choking back tears, and trying to use a 'different' voice, he said quietly "Can I help you?"
This was honestly the only thing Shysage could think of...
"Mister, just go away..." Summer replied. It sounded to Shysage like she was near tears, and this just hurt him more...
Shysage wanted to tell her... She had so much going for her, and her future was so bright... She was a rare Phant--... She just shouldn't do anything rash...
But Shysage was now hurting so much himself... He could NOT think of anything else to say...
So he said again "Can I help you?"
"Yes, just leave... Let me die in peace... I'm long overdue for some of that..." Summer said quietly.
Shysage could control himself no longer, and burst into tears, and wept openly. Summer didn't bother even turning around.
After a minute or two, Shysage looked down, and choked his tears off...
"Can you please at least read this book then..." Shysage said quietly, and again using as 'different' a voice as he could...
Shysage used one of his front legs to push the first volume of Princess Celestia's Commentaries, that he had just picked up from Princess Twilight's Library, out of his shoulder sack.
Summer turned just a little, noticed what he was trying to do, out of the corner of her eye, then said "Mister, that book will fall--"
But it was too late... Shysage had worked the book out of his shoulder sack... It fell to the avenue, and kept going...
Only special materials can float on the clouds...
Summer could not ignore a falling book... Summer loved to read...
Summer lept off the edge, and dove quickly after the book. She flew fast, and caught up with it maybe 1/4 of the way down. The wind was buffeting the pages of the book madly, and this was very bad for a book. The binding looked like it had torn some too...
Summer tried hard to take care of books, because she liked to read them...
Summer caught the book by flying carefully underneath it, then she balanced it in the middle of her back, between her wings.
Then she slowly glided to the ground, trying to keep the book centered on her back.
Still, when she landed, she had to slide the book off her back, and it fell, up-side-down, sort of helter-skelter in the tall grass.
Summer just looked at the book for a minute as it lay there.
"Some Pegasus" Summer thought to herself. "He should know better than that..."
Summer was soon laying on the grass, and quickly slid the book into her book-bag. One whole side of her bag was empty, so it fit nicely.
Summer sighed, then flew back up to Cloudsdale. Summer enjoyed this climb. She loved flying.
Summer flew quickly back up and over the edge, and was soon sitting near where that dumb stallion had been.
He was gone...
Summer quickly looked around, and saw nopony.
Summer took to the air, and looked down all the nearby avenues.
Nopony...
Summer just sighed...
"I guess I have a new book now..." Summer said to herself...
Summer flew slowly back to the ground. Well, she actually glided down. She loved doing that. She flew a large, gentle spiral down. It was amazing...
Once on the ground, she laid on her belly, and slid the book that she had just rescued, out of her book-bag. Then she used the title on the cover to orient the book correctly.
Quests in Friendship -- A narration of the experiences of Twilight Sparkle and her dear friends in Ponyville and all over Equestria -- Collected and edited by Princess Celestia of Canterlot -- Vol. 1
"Hmm... Ponyville..." Summer thought to herself.
Summer opened up the book to somewhere in the middle, and began to 'scan', just reading random paragraphs. She wanted to get the tone of the book, that was all. This book was pretty thick to be a casual read.
Summer read maybe two paragraphs, and ran into a painfully familiar name...
"Fluttershy"...
Summer was quickly crying...
"I loved my sister so much... ...but life just ripped us apart..." she said to herself through her tears...
Summer thought honestly though, while crying...
"I did that..." Summer said quietly... This made her cry more...
Before, Summer really was trying to 'fall off' the clouds... It was very difficult for a Pegasus to recover from falling when up-side-down...
Thinking of her sister, now, Summer sighed... She realized she could no longer pursue that... It would crush her sister... Summer couldn't, wouldn't do that to her...
While crying, Summer scanned a bunch more of this book. She ran into the names of the rest of her sister's new friends... Rarity... Rainbow Dash (who Summer was NOT very fond of)... Applejack... Pinkie Pie (who cracked Summer up)...
The sixth name that she ran into a lot, she didn't know -- Twilight Sparkle...
The other thing that Summer realized from her reading was that her sister, and these five other mares were now... ...close... ...friends...
Summer was quickly crying... sobbing...
...
Summer didn't have any 'close friends'...
...
Summer wanted some 'close friends'...
...
Summer needed some 'close friends'...
..
And Summer really wanted her sister Fluttershy to be her 'close friend'... again...
...
Summer cried... ...alone... ...for over an hour...
...then she realized there had to be a better way...
Right then...
Equestria pony Summer Rain started at the very beginning of that book... She soon had tears in her eyes... She still read it carefully...
Equestria pony Summer Rain would NEVER be the same again...
because...
Friendship is Magic...
Shysage remembered he had to struggle a little to get the book to fall out of his shoulder sack; This old sack was worn pretty bad. But he finally pursuaded the book to come out. But he forgot about the clouds...
The minute the book disappeared into the clouds of the avenue...
...Shysage immediately found himself at the exact same spot in front of Princess Twilight's Castle, where he had seen the almost imperceptible shape of the Portal, very close, in front of him...
Shysage was still sitting, just like he was up on the avenue in Cloudsdale at the two years ago time...
He saw Princess Twilight's new Castle looming large before him...
He still saw that faint outline of the Portal, very close, in front of him...
Shysage started to cry...
...
His task had been to get that amazing book... to his amazing Mare... ...at just the perfect time...
...
Shysage fell to the ground, thanked true friend, then sobbed right there for ten minutes.
Then he got up, and walked quickly home, changed into a 'people', and began to type...
It was hard, Shysage was crying the whole time...
Shysage started with the beginning of this very morning, and recorded exactly what had happened...
Shysage stopped typing the account when he disappeared from Cloudsdale.
Shysage left the file up, at the beginning, and changed back into a pony.
Then Shysage just fell to the floor and wept...
...the rest of the day...
When Summer got home from Fluttershy's, late in the afternoon, Shysage was still crying on the floor...
All he could do was point to the 'compy'.
Summer changed into a people, then sat down, and started to read...
She laughed at first, the account was about today, and started out with this morning.
Summer stopped laughing...
Summer started crying as she remembered that day...
Summer kept reading...
...
Summer burst into tears...
"Shysage, that was you?" Summer said this almost hysterically...
Summer was sobbing gut-wrenching...
...
Still, while sobbing, Summer started typing...
She picked up the account from where Shysage had left off...
Summer was amazed at the accuracy of Shysage's perceptions about what was going on in Summer's thoughts during their brief conversation...
Summer filled in the details about diving after the book, her search for the dumb pegasus, then her first read of that book, and the amazing impact it had on the rest of her life...
Shysage managed to get up again, and as a 'people' added text talking about what he did after blinking back to the present...
Then Summer finished the rest of her part...
They both were ponies again, and quickly laying next to each other on the floor in their room... crying... hugging...
Summer and Shysage cried together for a long time...
Princess Twilight and her girls... And their 'Quests in Friendship'... Had rippled through Summer Rain's life...
And far beyond...
